Even the Federal Councilor dances with Odermatt

One after the other, Franjo von Allmen and Marco Odermatt race down the longest downhill course in the Ski World Cup – and delight the 40,000 fans with their double victory. It is the highlight so far of the unprecedented Swiss dominance in the speed disciplines.

Sebastian Wendel, Wengen/ch media

It is 1:27 p.m. when this year’s Lauberhorn Saturday is approaching its climax. Franjo von Allmen throws himself out of the starting gate and reaches the finish line just under 2 minutes and 23 seconds later. Best time ahead of the Slovenian Miha Hrobat, who had been leading for a long time – and the question: Will the local hero from neighboring Simmental actually win the downhill after his Super-G triumph the day before? The answer follows with the next driver – and is “No”. Because Marco Odermatt, “only” seventh in the Super-G due to the wrong choice of material, reacted to the disappointment of the day before in the style of a great champion.

He takes a full four tenths of a second off Allmen, who is probably racing down the slopes this weekend at the limit of his current abilities. And secured his third downhill victory in Wengen with a ride close to perfection. “This is my house!” shouts Odermatt at the finish line – “this is my house”. Anger turns into pure joy within 24 hours.

What’s more: In the 95-year history of the Lauberhorn races, no driver has ever driven faster than Odermatt’s 2:22.58 minutes. This year, eleven (!) athletes broke the course record set by the Italian Kristian Ghedina in 1997, which is certainly thanks to the excellently prepared slopes.

Lots of cleanup in the morning

In the finish stadium, the crowd created a deafening noise after Odermatt reached the finish line. Only a fraction of the total of around 40,000 people who have made the pilgrimage to the route from the lowlands stay here. This is a record in the history of the Lauberhorn races and brings the organization to the limit.

On Saturday mornings, the waiting time at Lauterbrunnen train station is sometimes over three hours, and not everyone makes it up in time. Although the race starts 15 minutes later than planned. The reason for this is the so-called “Guggiföhn”, which whistles at over 140 kilometers per hour over the upper part of the route up to the Hundschopf on Saturday night and causes damage to the infrastructure and on the slopes.

Because the railway line to Kleine Scheidegg has to be cleared of snow first, the clean-up work cannot begin for a long time. When the approval for a race from the original start was given shortly before noon, OC boss Urs Näpflin admitted that the event was hanging by a thread. For a long time it was not clear whether the hurricane-force winds would subside in time. 600 helpers are at least as challenged on the world’s longest downhill slope (4.5 kilometers) in the early hours of the morning as the 54 riders who started afterwards.

The Federal Councilor is also dancing along

But back to the Odermatt duel – von Allmen, which delights the fans – and simply leaves others amazed. “Gigantic,” says Felix Neureuther. For the German, who was one of the best technicians in the ski circuit when he was active, the downhill skiers are “the kings of the slopes. What they do is not appreciated enough.” Meanwhile, Odermatt and von Allmen are always hugging each other in the leader box, amazed by their hussar rides, which no rider after them can even come close to. Neither did Lars Rösti, who finished eighth, just over a second behind. But because Rösti only starts the race with start number 37, his performance on the increasingly soft and therefore slower slope cannot be overestimated. Rösti’s ride is the icing on the cake for the next strong Swiss performance in a downhill race.

While Federal Councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, who traveled to the event, expressed her joy at the award ceremony with a little dance, Swiss Ski President Urs Lehmann tried to classify Switzerland’s dominance in the finish area. Four double victories in the four downhill runs of the season so far, that’s a world record. According to Lehmann, we are currently witnessing “one of the most successful phases in Swiss ski history”.

The man from Aargau praises the work of the people behind the athletes, he calls men’s head coach Tom Stauffer a “genius” and he points to the continuity of personnel in the important positions. According to Lehmann, the moment will come when the Swiss fall off the wave of success. Not only in sport, but also in business, every cycle has an expiry date. But between the lines he suggests that things could get better by then. Thanks to the unparalleled harmony within the team that pushes everyone to achieve top performance. With exceptional expert Marco Odermatt at the top, who supports his compatriots with his knowledge – instead of keeping it to himself.

The birth of the new duel for global supremacy?

Energy from harmony. This is the current formula for success. Lehmann talks about the golden 1980s, when, as a young athlete, he joined a speed team that worked differently: energy through friction. The head coach at the time, Karl Frehsner, provoked the motto “everyone against Peter Müller” – leaving the headstrong Müller behind was the motivation for the rest of the team at the time.

Back then, the Swiss dominated the speed disciplines for years. Just like again this season. After the weekend at the Lauberhorn, there are many indications that the duel between Marco Odermatt and Franjo von Allmen will not only be about supremacy in the Swiss team, but about that of the entire field of speed disciplines.